Image

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重

Yellow bird and wisteria (Fuji ni kicho)

Description

Maker

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797-1858, b. in Edo)
Sanoya Kihei 佐野屋喜兵衛 (Japanese, 1717-1875), publisher
Sanoki, publisher

Title

Yellow bird and wisteria (Fuji ni kicho)

Period

Edo (Japanese period)

Year

mid-1840s

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink, color

Supports

Geography

Place Made: Japan

Dimensions

Plate: 34.4 x 7.3 cm (13 9/16 x 2 7/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Kaze nakute (translates to) When there is no wind shizuka sugitari / fuji no hana (translates to) wisteria blossoms do not stirWisteria means the very end of spring. Butterfly is also a kigo (season word) for spring. The poem alludes to fujinami (wisteria wave), or the peak blossoming season for wisteria. Just as wind whips the waves, so the season brings about the crest of flowering.

Signature: Hiroshige hitsu | Ichiryusai ~ seal

Seals: Censor's seal ~ Watanabe Shoemon

Seals: Printer's seal ~ Sanoki

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

20.1235

Type

Use & Feedback

Image use

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797-1858, b. in Edo)
Sanoya Kihei 佐野屋喜兵衛 (Japanese, 1717-1875), publisher
Sanoki, publisher
Yellow bird and wisteria (Fuji ni kicho), mid-1840s
Polychrome wood block
Plate: 34.4 x 7.3 cm (13 9/16 x 2 7/8 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 20.1235

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